September '09 Trip Day 5.3

Unfortunately in the year that has passed since last year's birthday extravaganza I seem to have lost a few details. But this was my last day and I know I spent the majority of it going to the places I hadn't been quite as often over the previous days so I could get some photos. Ride signs, things like that. Given a couple hour time gap I can't say what I did for sure anymore, but I somehow found my way back in front of the Main St. station where I found a couple of characters that I hardly ever see - from Pinocchio! And the worst part was when I completely forgot the name of Honest John's scraggly looking tag-along. You know when you have a word or name right on the tip of your tongue but you can't spit it out? It was one of those moments.

By the way, I did finally remember his name, although it was an hour late!! Gideon, of course!! One of these days I would love to see Honest John outside of a parade. By getting those photos I just missed out on seeing Cruella de Ville, but a CM suggested I be near the Fire Station a little later if I wanted to see her. So I made note of the time and went off to take some more photos.

This was my first little teaser of a Halloween trip that at the time I could only dream of making!

I even did some wandering around Tomorrowland to get some photos since it is usually the least visited on my itinerary.


I made sure to get back to the Fire Depot with plenty of time to spare, just as I always do. This way I could take my take and get some photos of everything inside. I really love going in there, no matter how many times I have before.


And here's one just for fun!
If you ever have the time to do so, I definitely recommend taking time ou of your days to try and see as many of the different entertainment options available to you outside of just the rides - especially when there is music involved. Between the Bootstrappers, the Jambalaya Jazz Band, Disneyland Band - you name it, I enjoyed everything I saw and heard. Especially when said musical entertainment is accompanied by some Disney friends. The Hook and Ladder Company had some help from Cruella and Goofy to Chip & Dale. It was all good fun, and some of the kids got to get involved as well (and some not-so-kids as well).




I couldn't live with myself if I didn't head back to New Orleans Square to close out the final day - my favorite place in the park (outside of the walk down Main Street after walking through the front gates). On the way I managed to add in another ride (SR line) on Indiana Jones as well as Pirates and got to enjoy a little more music courtesy of the Jambalaya Band and Queenie. I even got some more Mardi Gras beads.
I also took some time out to watch the Laughing Stock Co. outside of The Golden Horseshoe. Every time I've ever seen them outside I always happen to be passing during the same skit - the one where they are playing that Bachelor "game" show one, so I figured since I had time to "kill" (do you ever have time to kill at Disneyland? I think not, but I was trying to experience a little bit of everything) so I stuck around the general area to watch all of their little skits. It was pretty entertaining for the most part, although I can see how it's not really peoples style. Plus, when they're doing it outside you're standing in the hot sun!! I believe they also perform onstage as well at TGH, but I've obviously never seen them in there. These were a couple of my favorite photos ...


I can't say with any certainty what I did after that, all I know is that when it was time I grabbed some grub from the Stage Door Cafe and met up with Andrea at our new designated Fantasmic location where we once again found ourselves chatting away with the people around us about anything and everything. I also had to go grab my final-farewell mint julep before I set up my tripod for the night's photo taking adventure. I don't thin we had planned it originally, but we ended up staying through the first showing of Fantasmic, the Magical fireworks, and then the second showing on Fantasmic. It was a great way to end the night and say goodbye to the Land, knowing we wouldn't be coming back the next morning because we had to head home! How sad, right? Here are a few of the photos - which turned out much better than the previous night!!







After Fantasmic, Andrea and I parted ways once more - it feels like I didn't see her at all on Saturday! I spent my last moments in the park simply wandering around and loving everything at nighttime. Sure, we didn't have to get up super early in the morning but I was still going to be the only driver on the way home so I didn't want to stay until closing like she planned on. It was a great 5 days in the park, but I didn't want to leave! Luckily for us both we had one more Disney-filled stop planned on our journey home.

September '09 Trip Day 5.2

So, what is Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness about, anyway? Other than the wonderful perk of getting to see an uncrowded Toontown and hang out with Mickey, Minnie and company they do provide a little entertainment. I would venture to say that unless you have a little kid in your party it probably wouldn't be of interest to many adults but this adult has the heart of a six year old. You get to witness a Toontown Town Hall Meeting with Mayor Mickey Mouse presiding and everyone becomes an honorary citizen.

I enjoyed it, although the 'meeting' itself I can probably live with seeing once. But just being there without huge throngs of people and getting to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale, and Pluto with some very short lines is a draw that I can hardly walk away from. As for Toontown itself, there are all of these little fun touches that you find all over the place that I absolutely love. Things like the brass plaques around Mickey's fountain (when you stomp on them, be ready to listen with your ears) were even fun for me to play around with. Before making my way out of Toontown I had time to stop by Minnie and Mickey's homes, and said good morning to a few other friends.



After I was done exploring all of Toontown that I felt like exploring it was just a few minutes until 9 and as I was walking back towards Fantasyland I happened to see the Princess Fantasy Faire line and it was short, short enough that even though I already had quite a few Princess photos, I hopped in line and waited for no more than 10 minutes. I don't regret the decision. I got photos with the 3 remaining Princesses that I needed: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a. Aurora) and Cinderella - I had seen been Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine the day before. I was told Mulan still comes through now and again, but I had no luck seeing her anywhere during this trip, but I did see her and Pocahontas when I went back in 2007.

Afterward I embarked on the "Happiest cruise that ever sailed 'round the world". There have been some new additions to It's a Small World recently in the form of some beloved Disney characters. Personally, I love the new touches! I even tried to photograph all of them, and while I wasn't successful I managed to get quite a few. There's always the next time. I probably enjoy it more now than I did before they added the characters because the first few times it's been all about trying to spot the new additions which can be a fun challenge in itself until you've memorized them all.